


Player Two: Jim Moriarty

by just_a_rosie



Series: A Game For Three Storyverse [3]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Psychopathology & Sociopathy, Rating May Change, Side Story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:53:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24966277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_a_rosie/pseuds/just_a_rosie
Summary: Scenes from A Game For Three in which main character, Artemis, was absent. Told from Jim's POV.(This is a side story to be read alongside A Game For Three. Please see A/N in Chapter 6 of A Game For Three for further details.)
Relationships: Jim Moriarty/Original Female Character(s), Sherlock Holmes/Jim Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes/Original Female Character(s)
Series: A Game For Three Storyverse [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1794643
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do hope you're reading this alongside my story A Game For Three. Otherwise you will be very lost...
> 
> Apologies that I write only the bare minimum for these scenes, but I'm not very comfortable writing from the POV of a character that I didn't create.
> 
> TW: Mentions of possible psychopathic and/or sociopathic behavior.

Jim is heading back to his current safehouse after a meeting with Lord Moran, upstanding member of Parliament. But really he was talking to Sebastian, M the sniper working under Moriarty. Sebastian had confirmed the success of his last mission which was to take out all of the gang members that had managed to worm their way into the network. Jim won't be underestimating Ricoletti's gang again anytime soon. Perhaps he should leave a clue for Sherlock on the whereabouts of dear old Peter.

Jim's just about to pull up Artemis' contact on his phone to give her the all clear, but a message comes in that makes him pause.

'747 TOMORROW 6:30PM HEATHROW'

Jim grins down at the text. Sure, Jim probably could have had Artemis send him the information from the phone and have figured it out for himself, but it was so much more fun to have Sherlock do the work for him. 

Jim sends two texts to Mycroft Holmes. The first to let the Iceman know that he knows about the cracking of the terror cell's code, and the second to drop a hint that will lead to the discovery of Artemis' little message that she left in Irene's phone.

Jim then opens up Artemis' contact information and smiles fondly down at his phone as their last text conversation appears on the screen.

'If I have to stay in this flat any longer, then you're buying me a pet. I need companionship. -AD'

'You wouldn't even know how to take care of a goldfish, let alone any sort of real pet. -JM'

'I want a puppy. -AD'

'I am not getting you a puppy. -JM'

'But it'd have to be something small since it'd be cooped up with me all day. -AD'

'Maybe a Yorkie? Toy poodle? -AD'

'Although those require a lot of grooming, don't they? Maybe a Corgi then? Those are what the queen has right? -AD'

'Then again, I think Corgis shed, so maybe not. Ooh! Are beagles small dogs? -AD'

It was at this point that Jim's patience wore out.

'I'm not getting you a dog. In fact, if you manage to bring home any animal at all, I'll be sure that it is dealt with accordingly. -JM'

'You're no fun. -AD'

Jim's hand tightens on the phone as he reads over the last two messages.

'I miss you. -AD'

'I miss you, too. -JM'

It was the closest they ever got to the 'I love you's that normal couples sent each other.

Jim knows he can't feel love. He knows that there is something wrong with the hardwiring of his brain that prevents him from feeling that kind of emotion. But he also knows that Artemis is his. She always has been, ever since she first followed him out into the woods back when they were six. Hell, maybe even before that when she peaked his interest by near mindlessly solving his Rubik's Cube, proving herself more competent than any other child he had met by that point in his life. Either way, the fact remained that she is his. And, somewhere along the way, Jim had become dependent on her presence. And he knows that she loves him, of course he does. So he finds himself doing silly things that seem meaningless to him to appease her. They make her happy and if she's happy then she'll remain at his side. And he needs her at his side.

Jim sighs as he locks his phone screen and gets a cab to the nearest shopping district. He has an errand to run before he sends Artemis the all clear.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someday I'll write a long chapter for this side story...
> 
> TW: Mentions of possible psychopathic and/or sociopathic behavior.

Jim angles his head so the shower sprays directly into the wound on the back of his head. A normal person might at the very least wince at the sting if not avoid it altogether, but, then, Jim has never really been a normal person. He watches as the pink water swirls down the drain. He turns the shower off only when the water runs clear. He dries off quickly and tugs on a pair of joggers and a t-shirt.

Jim finds Sebastian in the dining room of his home, first aid kit out and ready to go. Jim sits and allows Sebastian to treat the wound he created. Jim wouldn't trust anyone else to make that shot.

"You were right," Sebastian says as he dabs the wound with an alcohol swab. "Airbag, cyclist, and everything, you were right."

"Of course I was," Jim scoffs, indignant that Sebastian would have expected anything else.

Jim picks up Sebastian's phone from where he left it on the table. He types out a message, a single word, and sends it to Artemis to let her know that he's alive. The last word he'll communicate to her for, he predicts, approximately two years. His last words before the text had probably been preferable, but he has to let her know he is alive somehow. Artemis' last words to him ring in his ears. "I love you." He had been able to return her words, but not her sentiment. He has never lied to Artemis before, not truly. Sure, there were things he didn't tell her, but every word he's ever said to her was true, at least for the most part. And even this doesn't quite feel like a full lie. While technically he doesn't love her, because he cannot feel such an emotion, he does care for her about as much as he can for any other person that isn't himself. She belongs to him, and ownership seems to be about as close to love as he can get.

"What do normal people do when they get two years of holiday?" Jim asks abruptly after what must have been a long silence. If Sebastian wasn't as well trained as he is, he probably would have jumped at the sudden noise.

"Normal people don't get two years of holiday," Sebastian answers simply.

"Okay, but what would they do?" Jim clarifies.

"Travel, I guess. See the world. Experience new things," Sebastian says with a shrug. He taps Jim's shoulder to let him know he's finished before he starts to pack up the first aid kit.

"Sounds terribly boring," Jim sighs.

"Don't know what to tell you, boss," Sebastian says as he picks up the first aid kit and moves to leave so he can put it back in the bathroom. He pauses in the doorway. "Why did you do all of this anyway?"

"Why, indeed, Moran. Why indeed," Jim says cryptically as he gets up and walks out of the other doorway towards the lounge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I am using the same way Jim fakes his death that everyone uses because I am not clever enough to think of a different way.
> 
> Comments and constructive criticism are always appreciated. (Seriously I promise you that as long as your goal is to better my writing and not tear me down, I will not be offended if you have a critique)

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and constructive criticism are always appreciated. (Seriously I promise you that as long as your goal is to better my writing and not tear me down, I will not be offended if you have a critique)


End file.
